The Deep State

    That is obviously a pejorative catch-phrase but in a way, there is such a thing.  It's interesting that it's almost impossible to get a definitive number for Federal employees.  The numbers range from 2.7 million to 2.1 not counting the military or the Post Office.  The Federal government is second only to Walmart as an employer.  That's a little disturbing but not the point right now.  I couldn't find an overall percentage for the Federal workforce. (Probably just too lazy to deduce the figure.)  But employees of all governments nationwide are reported to be 17% of the overall workforce.  On a side note, the Federal Budget accounts for about 22% of the GDP.  That's understandable.
    So, what's the "Deep State"?  Each partisan administration appoints about 15 thousand upper and mid-upper level administrators outside of Civil Service.  There's no set figure for that either.  It's a process that takes about 2 years.  These people set the tone and overall philosophical direction of the government in harmony with the philosophy of the Chief Executive.  I don't think it's partisan here to point out the Trump Administration was unprepared for this detail of actually governing and that has slowed the process.  They were heavy on philosophy and light on the nuts and bolts.  They do seem to be coming up to speed.
    The government is a fantastically complex 4.5 trillion dollar a year enterprise.  Apart from any philosophy, it takes an extensive group of skilled, educated people to just keep the lights on and manage the paperwork.  They may or may not have certain philosophical ideas but they do have a detailed sense of what actually works and how to make it work in the real world.  They have to have detailed ethics and contact with and adherence to established practice.  They constitute the so-called, "Deep State".  In other countries and cultures, these people are known as apparatchiks.  The political appointees are known as "nomenclatura".  My point is, it's a common and necessary development.
    In our case, the problem, as seen by some, is when politics collides with that entrenched sense  of ethics and utility. In other words, " That's wrong and it won't work."  Idealogues don't like to hear that and we are seeing that conflict play out.  Hence the pejorative connotation.  Something that's making things worse right now is these career people know not just utilitarian things but what's legal and what isn't.
    It's not uncommon for political operatives of either party to discover the reason things that seem obvious to them have not been done in a particular way is because they are simply illegal.
    This administration has a lot of complete newcomers to government by design.  A good deal of the problems we are seeing have more to do with a lack of experience and information than inherent dishonesty.  It's always been true that a little knowledge or a lack of knowledge can lead to a lot of trouble.
    Politics aside,  I don't think we're seeing some deliberate "deep state" resistance. I think it's natural given the circumstances but those being resisted do have to blame it on something.